Getting rid of smell of cigarette smoke...

[StillTryingtoBuy]

We've found a house we like - location is perfect and it's a lovely plot, nice garden and lots of potential. We're in rental at the moment and have had a few places fall through at this point...I wouldn't like to say we're desperate but we're possibly not far off!

The house is a little overpriced we think, decoratively needs updating and would benefit from changing the layout downstair in particular but from the photos we thought we could live in it and save up to do those things as we go so we went to see it anyway.

The main problem is the owners must be very heavy smokers, the smell is actually unbearable. So any offer we make would have to reflect the cost of dealing with that as we couldn't move in as it is.

Downstairs floors are hardwood, upstairs carpets. I'm assuming we'd have to remove carpets and curtains, scrub everything and repaint at a minumum...possibly replace the kitchen? Anything else? My parents smoked and I hated it and can't bear the idea of the smell lingering so it's almost enough to put me off completely but it's a lovely house.

We could keep our rental for another month or two while we sorted the house but that's another expense I suppose.

Any advice from anyone who has been down this road and any idea of what the likely costs of what we'd need to do would be great please.

Our house was like this 🤢

The carpets, curtains and wallpaper all went and that made a huge difference.

It hung around for a while months but was generally ok within about 6 months I think. We did try and open every window as much as possible. It was cold, I remember that!

Oh really? I actually don’t think I could live with it for 6 months…we have young kids, I grew up in a smoky house and family members that died of lung cancer so I am particularly and maybe overly bothered by it.

Two of us used to smoke in a one bedroom flat and we both gave up and it was three-months before I couldn't smell the smoke anymore. We didn't change carpets or upholstery, but washed the curtains.
Painting can help mask the smell, and it will probably need redecorating anyway.

Change everything soft - curtains, carpets, all of that. And totally redecorate everything. We bought a house which had evidently had at least one heavy smoker in it and totally renovated it, and you couldn't smell anything once we'd done that.

If you were to throw money at this kind of problem what do you think we’re talking about? It’s a 3 bed 1950s end of terrace.

Place marking for tips. DH and I are both smokers. We smoke in the conservatory and occasionally the bedroom 😬. Friends have confirmed they can't smell it elsewhere in the house but we need to find a way to get rid of any trace of the smell before we go on the market. No carpets curtains but I've recently learned from another thread that the smell lingers in walls!

Investigate ozone generators.

It didn't leave our house until we replastered. Although I didn't try repainting before that.

I would expect to do a full refurb.

I’d be looking to give the walls a good scrub down with sugar soap before repainting to remove any residue, and just use a good quality thick paint and be prepared to do multiple coats. Replace underlay as well as carpets.

If the kitchen is very smelly I’d probably remove the cupboard doors altogether for a few weeks to let them air properly before looking at replacing it.
Change the filters in the cooker hood, take apart and clean any other fans/ventilation e.g bathrooms

I never got rid of it in my house - it was a very peculiar smell. I moved eventually. My clothes took in the smell and when I stayed away I could smell it.

I decorated changed carpets and all soft furnishings and it wouldn't go.

I wouldn't buy it but that is my experience - sorry.

Oh and sanding and re oiling/varnishing your hardwood flooring would be a good bet

Sounds weird but once you’ve stripped it out, chopped onions are your friend. They absorb odours. Cut them in half and dot them all around

You need to really strip back to the bare bones, sand floors, replanted, everything and yes, even the kitchen will have to go.
Speak to the agent so they know any offer would have to reflect this.
Personally, I wouldn't buy it, to much work.

A cheaper alternative would be to borrow my DP and one of those four-packs of Heinz Baked Beans.
That should clear it but make sure there are no naked flames!)
😷

We had a rental that we found had all kinds of awful smells once we moved in - cigarette smoke, cooking fat and something else that meant both cats refused to go near the utility room (gulp).

An ioniser helped (although there is little scientific evidence), plus washing down woodwork with sugar soap.

We moved 3 months ago into a smokers' house. They said they only ever smoked in the conservatory but the smoke has permeated the whole place obviously.

We spent the first two months with every window and door open. Lots of cleaning with bicarb and white vinegar, including the walls. Took down their manky old curtains and stripped off a lot of wallpaper, lit lots of candles, etc. The first few nights I actually couldn't sleep properly because the bedroom stank.

It's definitely much better, but it's now clear that the smell won't go completely until the carpets are up and the place is re-painted. A mate came round the other day and her first words when she walked in were 'Did they smoke?' so clearly we've gone a bit nose-blind already!

We're having the kitchen stripped out and we're knocking down the vile nicotine-stained conservatory as well. It's pissed me off a bit tbh, because whilst we would have done this stuff anyway (and obvs we knew it was a smokers' house when we bought it), we've had to do it much more quickly than we'd like in order to get rid of the smell.

Having said that, I tend to try and remember that pretty much everyone smoked indoors when I was young and those houses don't all still reek It will go in the end but it's a lot of work.

I would not be buying this house. I know of too many horror stories of the stench never going away. There is no way I could live with that horrible smell.

Someone I know had to completely replanted the whole place

*replaster

@StillSmallVoice

Someone I know had to completely replanted the whole place

Me too. Along with all the wood trim and doors. It was that bad.

@StillTryingtoBuy we bought a 1970s mid terrace that was smoked in for several years we had to rip out everything including doors, repaint, removed carpets and door frames the smell and smoke permeates everywhere. We tried sprays and leaving the windows open - nope. We spent closer to £15k. Then when we would leave for a few days we could smell it as soon as we got home after that but we had planned to re do the kitchen anyway so that plus associated works was another 5/6k. It was worth it but no amount of scrubbing or airing will get rid of smoke smells that are ingrained into a property